III Capital Management Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

III Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,000 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,194,000. Western Digital comprises approximately 0.8% of III Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $615,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,771,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $329,861,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $271,565,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $1,602,927,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish on Western Digital’s growth outlook. Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $3.56 and revenue of $3.75 billion, up 43.8% year over year. Fiscal 2027 catalysts include rising hyperscale demand, improving margins, 40TB drive launches and HAMR technology. Prediction: This Memory Stock Will Soar 165% in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was highlighted as a top momentum and growth stock, with commentary pointing to strong earnings trends, AI-driven storage demand, cash generation and a potential memory shortage. Brokerages collectively maintain a “Moderate Buy” rating, with a consensus target price above the current trading level. Western Digital Is a Top-Ranked Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital will present at Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference on September 9. The event may provide updates on demand, pricing and its product ramp, but the announcement included no new guidance. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 919 shares in two transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales reduced her holdings only marginally and are unlikely to materially change the investment case. SEC insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and sector rotation ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report have pressured high-flying AI, memory and semiconductor stocks, including WDC. Investors are also monitoring valuation risk, cloud-customer concentration and execution requirements for upcoming products. Memory and Semiconductor Stocks Fall Ahead of Nvidia Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple could source memory chips from Chinese suppliers have raised concerns about competition and pricing throughout the memory industry. A discounted 8TB WD My Book drive on Amazon is consumer-oriented news with little direct effect on WDC’s investment outlook. WD 8TB My Book External Hard Drive Price Cut

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $450.75 on Wednesday. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $543.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $436.75. The company has a market cap of $155.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 25,384 shares of company stock valued at $11,753,463 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Digital Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.